What kind of house survey for buyer?

techno79

So, upon agreeing a house purchase price. What kind of survey should I have done?

The property I'm looking to buy looks to be in good condition but it's not a new build. It has had several extensions done to it (loft conversation, porch and rear extension).

I'm not in the building trade nor am I proficient in DIY area, so I'd only be able to spot things myself that are "skin deep".

Will a survey identify things that need attention?

As a made up example, say one of the walls has a massive crack in it that would indicate a structural problem. The seller has superficially filled in the crack and painted the room. I don't think I would even notice this myself but would an experienced surveyor be able to spot that? What kind of survey report would be required to get that level of detail?

Thanks in advance

davidmcn

techno79 wrote: »

As a made up example, say one of the walls has a massive crack in it that would indicate a structural problem. The seller has superficially filled in the crack and painted the room. I don't think I would even notice this myself but would an experienced surveyor be able to spot that? What kind of survey report would be required to get that level of detail?

Structural problems are more likely to be indicated by cracks in external walls. Cracks in plaster are pretty normal.

Even a mortgage valuation report should flag up structural and other major problems, I wouldn't necessarily expect a homebuyer's report to be more likely to notice that - but a valuation report doesn't usually include looking in the loft, under floors etc. Homebuyer's report will give you more detail about useful maintenance points to attend to (or ignore!).

leviathan

It comes down to personal choice. Just dont over react if you get a full report and think the house is about to fall down.


re cracks in external walls. When we bought ours 10yrs ago it had external cracks. But then so did all of the other houses in the same street in the same place of the same design of house. But any report we might have got would have just mentioned the cracks.
Not that the houses had stood for now 70years and the cracks havent gotten any bigger or smaller since we bought it.


ie: pinch of salt or know how to interpret the report.

techno79

So what kind of things would a home buyer's report identify that is actually of useful information that before a purchase?

hazyjo

There are examples online. Here is the first from the list http://www.harcourt-powell.co.uk/PDF/HomeBuyer%20Report%20Example.pdf

leviathan

techno79 wrote: »

So what kind of things would a home buyer's report identify that is actually of useful information that before a purchase?

I wouldn't know, I didn't bother with one.
I looked around the house, poked a few things and was generally happy with it. It was in good condiiton, it had been stood for 60years and was well built.

The boiler was then 20yrs old, now 30yrs old and a survery would have said it was old, obsolete, cannot get parts blah blah blah
Nothing wrong with it. It's not as efficient as a combi, but then it'll never break down and need replacing every 5 years unlike a combi.

The survery would have said such guff like "the roof structure is not up to modern standards" but it's been stood for 60years. Nothing wrong with the roof.

It might well have said "the electric board is old and a rewire is advised at some point" which sure it strictly true but again nothing is actually wrong with the house wiring (whole house MCB/RCD I forget the right term, rather than per circuit, its far from dangerous) however you can read such a statement in a survery and it'll put the fear of god into you.

"garage roof may be asbestos" - yep, can't argue it is. 100%. And so are the soffits.
But they are the right kind of asbestos so nothing to fear here either.


Here's a nugget from the actual report hazyjo posted:

"At least three (and possibly four) of the double glazed panel vacuum seals are broken and misted over and require replacement."

They dont require replacement. They would benefit from it if you wish to improve the heat loss through them. However they are not going to fall out the window, or break into pieces and as such require replacement - its' up to you if you want to do it or not.
Considering that as a DIY job it's probably 50quid for a new panel and if you want to go the super cheap but temporary method it's about a tenner and can then treat all the windows once a year, is it a major deal breaker ?

But you need to know what is and isn't important on the report (before you go demanding fixes to the vendor and royally !!!! them off) and it doesn't give you any help with that.





The few things that have gone wrong with the house no report would ever have picked up as they were hidden behind floorboards/walls - bad plumbing, and weren't apparent until long after moving in and starting to make alterations. But thats' not expensive to fix either so you take your chances.